Ko te kotahitanga me te whanaungatanga ngā hua e putaina mai ana e Rituraj Sapkota uri o Nepal i tōna hīkoitanga mā runga te ara ako reo māori.
I tau mai a Sapkota ki Aotearoa nei e whitu tau ki muri i tōna kāinga tuturu i Jhapa, Nepal. Ā i tōna taenga mai ki Aotearoa nei he hiahia nōna te tū hai kaiwhakahaere pakipūmeka, nā, i tonoa e ia ki Whakaata Māori kia tū hai kaikāmera i te whare paremata. Mā reira aia timata ai tōna ako i te reo.
“I taku kuhunga mai ki Aotearoa i tino ohorere kia kite kāore i tino kōrerotia te reo o te motu. Kei taku anō whenua kei Nepal, ēhea ngā reo e rūmaki ana, me ia reo e rūmaki ka ngaro he mātauranga, he kete aronui nē. Nōreira ki a au me kōrero, me whakararawe i te reo o te motu.”
Ahakoa nō iwi kē atu a Sapkota he aroha nōna ki te reo, ā, he wawata tōna mō Aotearoa whānui tonu kia pupuri nei ki tōna reo kāmehameha, tōna reo nō tuawhakarere.
“Ko taku wawata hoki kia whakawhanaunga atu te tauiwi ki te tangata whenua I tō mātou taunga mai ki Aotearoa. Ka āhei tēra mena ka piki ake to mātou māramatanga ki te tiriti, ki ngā kaupapa Māori, ā, kaore e kore, ki te reo Maori.”
Inā te nui o āna kitenga kai waenganui i te hunga ako ai i te reo, mai i te whakamā ki te kōrero nā te hapa i taka, ki te pōhēhē, mā te iwi māori anahe te reo e kōrero nā.
“Tuatahi, te wāteatanga. Me piki ake ngā akomanga kei ngā wānanga, heoi anō ngā akomana ōpaki i ngā hapori, I ngā wahi mahi hoki. Ko taku kitenga tuarua, ko te anipā. Ahakoa tētahi e mōhio ana ki te reo, ka wehi anō ia ki te korero. Nā te kore whakapono pea, nā ētahi atu take pea. Engari, me korero. Me kōrero ahakoa ngā he iti, me te whakaranu o te reo pākeha, me korero! Tuatoru te pōhehe mā ngāi Māori anahe te ako o te reo Māori. Engari mō tēnā!”
Hai tā Sapkota mā tauiwi mā, mā tātau katoa o Aotearoa whānui e mahi ngātahi ka tutuki pai ai te wero kua whakatakotonkgia e te kawanatanga.
“Kō mātou, ko te tauiwi, he wāhanga o Aotearoa. Ā ko te reo tino taonga o Aotearoa te reo Māori. Nā reira, me ako. Tētahi o ngā whainga o te kawanatanga he kaikōrero reo Māori e miriona hei te tau rua mano wha tēkau. Kaore e taea tēra me te kore whakaurunga o te tauiwi ki tēnei kaupapa.”
Hai tāna anō mēnā e taea ana e ia te whakaako i aia anō ka taea tātau katoa ki te ako i te reo.
“Inarā ngā tauiwi, e korero ana i ngā reo e toru, whā rānei. Kia ako kotahi atu reo? Kaore e kore ka taea. He aha e akona ai te reo? Kia whai māramatanga ki te tiriti, kia whai wahi ai tātou, te tauiwi, ki te motu ataahua nei, ki Aotearoa.”
